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Re: Build the rosters of each affiliate

Re: Build the rosters of each affiliate

Camisadelgolf, as strongly as you feel about Sean Henry, imagined how strongly HE feels about the same thing. Maybe he makes the Triple-A bench. One thing working against him a little is that they don't have enought outfielders in Double-A. Maybe they send Kevin West to Carolina and keep Henry in Louisville. The first time I saw Henry, I was surprised by how small he was. Built like a Lance Johnson but unfortunately without the speed. I would like to see him get a chance in Triple-A too.

Mike Griffin and Eric Eymann are in kind of the same position as Henry, guys who I am sure believe they have nothing to prove going back to Double-A, but might have to go back anyway. You could see a trade with a guy like that if they find another org that needs depth in Triple-A and has an abundance of players at a position where the Reds have a hole.

No way do I see Hamilton in Dayton. He hit .205 in the GCL. Hopefully he hits .260 in Billings. Gregorius will be the Dayton shortstop. Boxberger may make some starts to get innings. Longterm, he is a reliever most likely.

Re: Build the rosters of each affiliate

For those who like to follow the rosters during the season, one big change you will see this year:

For the past several years, if the high-A club in Sarasota needed a player for a couple of weeks or less, they would just bring someone over from the minor league complex (extended spring guys in the first half, GCL guys in the second half). It saved the cost of a plane ticket and saved a player the trouble of having to pack up and move to a new city, find a new place to live, etc. Therefore, you saw Gregorius in high-A, Puckett in high-A in '08, and countless other examples of this happening.

That obviously will change in 2010 and beyond. The extended spring guys and the AZL guys (who replaced the GCL) are now a long way from any of the affiliates. There would be nothing to gain by moving those guys up for short term needs.

Adjustments will have to be made. You may not see as many moves, period. You probably will see each club carry a player on the phantom DL who can be activated immediately if a need arises. You may see some teams have to play a little short-handed for a few days in some cases. Players may have to play positions for a few games that they might not have been asked to play in past years. In short, it will not be as easy to make short-term changes if a pitcher has to miss a start or a position player has to miss a week or so. If Lynchburg needs a player, he will not be walking over from the other side of the property. It probably will result in some tougher decisions for the farm director on when to make changes, which players to leave where they are, and which players to put on a plane.

Re: Build the rosters of each affiliate

Originally Posted by thorn

Which begs the questions, do you see the club moving any of their minor league affiliates to AZ anytime soon, particularly Lynchburg or is that a permanent situation?

The high A team will not be going to Arizona because there isn't a league there for High A. It will have to be in the Florida State League, Carolina League (where they are now) or the California League.

The rookie level team (not Billings) will play in the Arizona League this season.

Re: Build the rosters of each affiliate

I put my list together without giving it too much thought and it does not seem to let me go back and edit it but yes, Leake should be in the Carolina rotation, bumping Webb to the bullpen or back to Lynchburg. Boxberger should be a starter with Lynchburg, not a reliever.

The whole thing is just a guess of course. I would imagine that for each club, there are 15-18 players locked in and the other roster spots will be decided based on spring training, injuries, and related trickle down based on what Dusty does with the big club. We don't know who the 15-18 are and we sure don't know the rest.

Re: Build the rosters of each affiliate

Chapman, as some may know, is living in Florida with Dayton pitching coach Tony Fossas, a native of Cuba, and Fossas is a good person to put into a mentor role for a Spanish speaking player. No one has any idea what to expect from Chapman. He could make the big league club. He could go to spring training and start throwing like Nuke Laloosh before Crash Davis got to town. His performance will dictate his assignment. The Fossas connection leads to speculation that Chapman could start the year by making a couple of starts with Dayton to get his feet wet. On the other hand, they could just as easily just send Fossas to Carolina to stay with Chapman (ala Johnny Narron-Josh Hamilton) and send a different pitching coach to Dayton, like Bob Forsch. It will be interesting to watch.

Re: Build the rosters of each affiliate

Almost completely ignored has been the hires of former big leaguers David Bell, Tony Fossas, Bob Forsch and Delino DeShields by the Jocketty FO. There may be others. I like these moves. Ex big leaguers, so long as they're quality role models, will get the attention of kids trying to make it.

"Baseball is a very, very complex business. It's more of a people business than most businesses." - Bob Castellini

Re: Build the rosters of each affiliate

Originally Posted by redsof72

I put my list together without giving it too much thought and it does not seem to let me go back and edit it but yes, Leake should be in the Carolina rotation, bumping Webb to the bullpen or back to Lynchburg. Boxberger should be a starter with Lynchburg, not a reliever.

The whole thing is just a guess of course. I would imagine that for each club, there are 15-18 players locked in and the other roster spots will be decided based on spring training, injuries, and related trickle down based on what Dusty does with the big club. We don't know who the 15-18 are and we sure don't know the rest.

While that last part may be true and we all know someone almost always lands somewhere unexpectedly every year I think yours is about how the majority would see it (with the Leake/Boxberger corrections).

"You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one."

Re: Build the rosters of each affiliate

Nice work, golf. Those pitching staffs seem especially impressive, although, through injuries, they're almost never what they promise to be. In particular, I have doubts that the Dayton rotation will materialize as it appears it could. Lotzkar and Hildrenbrandt are of course coming off injuries, so I suppose there's no telling when they'll be available. I'd be surprised to see Cline start out there, but I guess it's conceivable.

We're all aware of the depth at shortstop, but the string of center fielders stands out as well. There's not a non-prospect in the bunch.

It's hard to imagine the rookie-through-AA teams being as non-competitive as they were last year.

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